Latest Insights & Research

Stay informed with the latest public health research, insights, and evidence-based analysis from our team of experts.

Funding

New Study Reveals 3 Keys to Smarter Health Care Dashboards

What does a kidney transplant really cost—not just to the hospital, but to the patient living through it? For most clinicians, managers, and even patients, the answer has remained surprisingly murky. While health systems worldwide race to implement value-based health care (VBHC), an approach that defines value as outcomes relative to cost, one piece of […]

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Developmental disorders

Did Aluminum in Vaccines Harm Kids? The Largest Study Says No

The Annals of Medicine recently rejected a call to retract a Danish cohort study that did not find increased health risks among 1.2 million children exposed to aluminum in vaccines. The journal’s editor-in-chief explained that while the study has limitations (as every study does) its findings remain valid. And importantly, dismissing peer-reviewed evidence without reason […]

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News

Next Week in Public Health, August 22, 2025

Hello. That’s it. I don’t have much interesting commentary this week. I did learn a new word, though — presenteeism. Check out some of the latest research on presenteesism below. And what’s going on in the news How the pandemic shaped presenteeism trends between healthcare and non-healthcare workers using the Korean working conditions surveys (2010 […]

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Research

Can Everyday Wireless Signals Really Damage Your DNA?

I’ll be honest–> this one knocked my socks off. For decades, we’ve lived in an increasingly wireless world—mobile phones in our pockets, Wi-Fi in our homes, Bluetooth in our cars. These technologies make modern life hum, but could the same invisible waves connecting us be subtly damaging our DNA? A massive new scoping review of […]

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Global

The 1950s WHO Drug Plan That Supplied 70% of India’s Penicillin

In the late 1940s, just as the world emerged from war and penicillin was transforming medicine, the newly formed World Health Organization (WHO) tried something extraordinary. It wasn’t just about distributing medicine—it was about ensuring that every country could make life-saving drugs themselves, free from corporate secrecy and political roadblocks. This is the story of […]

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Research

How to Prove Your Research Makes a Difference in the Real World

Every year, billions of dollars are spent on research, but how much of it actually changes lives, shapes policy, or saves money? A sweeping review by Greenhalgh and colleagues tackles this head-on, offering a roadmap for how to measure research impact so funders, policymakers, and the public can see what’s working. As public funding comes […]

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News

Next Week in Public Health, August 15, 2025

I know we didn’t pay enough attention to the shooting at the CDC last week. I could blame the firehouse of insanity, the bizarre lack of media coverage of this event, the general shrugs that accompany mass shootings, or the fact that I was in a daze working on a project. I don’t know. So […]

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Research

Being Better Ancestors for a Healing and Just Healthcare System

Healthcare in the United States is at a crossroads. Rising costs, declining (or precipitously falling) trust, and persistent racial and social inequities have made it clear: patchwork fixes and short-term programs aren’t enough. In their NEJM Catalyst article, Being Better Ancestors for a Healing and Just Healthcare System,” Somava Saha, MD, MS, Kellie Easton, and […]

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Environment

Living Near Illegal Dumpsites Doubles Respiratory Risks

Every morning in Rocklands, a township in Bloemfontein, South Africa, families step out into air tinged with smoke, dust, and decay. Just down the road lie vast illegal waste dumping sites—three of them—where household garbage, rotting food, and plastics pile up in the open air. It’s unsightly, yes. But as new research shows, it’s also […]

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Climate

Heat Deaths Rise 15% When You Count the Right People

Public health experts know that heat kills. But what if the way we measure heat is hiding just how deadly it really is, especially in the world’s hottest regions? A new study published in Environmental Health Perspectives reveals that the traditional methods used to estimate temperature—like relying on airport weather stations—may significantly underestimate heat-related deaths […]

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Policy

Best Public Health Tools for Local Government:

A Non-Partisan Guide to Data, Action, and Impact In cities, towns, and counties across the U.S., public health decisions are made every day that shape the well-being of communities. Whether you’re trying to lower asthma rates in a city neighborhood or improve maternal health outcomes in a rural area, the challenge is the same: you […]

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Commentary

Science is political

For centuries, science has been romanticized as an impartial pursuit, a process that stands above politics and social conflict. We are told that the scientific method is designed to remove bias and that data simply “speaks for itself.” Yet anyone who has watched science operate in the real world knows this is an incomplete picture. […]

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